Cleaning/disinfecting apparatus for bathrooms and toilets

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a suitable apparatus for cleaning water closets bowls by concentrated water and steam jets and for in disinfecting the bowls. The apparatus includes a portable hand-held dispenser body provided with a water tank, heating element, pump and rechargeable battery supply means. The dispenser is received in a recharging socket having a timing mechanism for setting the period of time electricity is connected to the rechargeable battery in the dispenser body after use. A pawl on the socket that cooperates with the dispenser body prevents the timing mechanism from operating whenever the dispenser body is removed from the socket.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present finding relates to a suitable apparatus for the end cleaningof the water closet (WC) bowls by means of concentrated water jets, and,for disinfecting them and their seat, by means of steam jets.

It frequently happens that, after that the physiological evacuation hasbeen performed, the water flushing stream commanded by the user by apushbutton, a handle, a chain system, or the like, is not enough inorder to adequately clean the water toilet bowl and that some residuesof excrements may remain tenaciously sticking to the inner surface. Inthese cases, use is made of the purposely provided brush, which is astandard toilet fitting.

Such a kind of operation, which, per se, is not so pleasant, is also anunhygienic one, because a portion of removed matter unavoidably remainson the same brush, and even repeated flushes are surely insufficient fora thorough cleaning of the bristles, so that the user will place againthe brush inside its container being perfectly aware that he is storingsome "foreign matter" together with it--although both said parts, i.e.,the brush and the container are usually thoroughly cleaned from time totime.

Another problem, still arising in connection with the use of the watercloset bowl, relates to the seat, i.e., where the toilet user seats.

Not always said seat is clean, and besides all, in particular in thecase of toilets shared by a plurality of users, e.g., in large officebuildings, communities, restaurants, and so forth, it certainly does notgain the users' confidence; on the contrary, a great mistrust, and, as amatter of fact, the application has spread of dispensers (nearly alwaysagainst payment) of paper rings suitable for covering the toilet bowlseat.

Now, with the validity of such an approach being fullyacknowledged--paper ring is an extremely good isolating means for dirtand germs--it, in our opinion, is anyway still affected by a number ofweak points, such as, e.g., a further paper waste, the relatively highcost of the dispenser unit, the objective difficulty of a diffusionthereof in private homes, in which it would be unaesthetic andexpensive.

Concrete doubts may however be raised also in those cases when thisdevice is installed, because it may happen that owing to such reasons asavarice, lack of immediate availability of coins or tokens, faults,store exhaustion, and the like, this service cannot be taken advantageof.

It may also happen that sometimes, before applying the paper ring, asummary cleaning or drying of the water closet seat must be forcedlycarried out.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The purpose the instant finding aims at achieving, precisely is ofovercoming the drawbacks complained hereinabove, by providing aportable, cleaning/disinfesting apparatus easily hand-traversed by theuser, which efficaciously and meticulously performs the removal of theresidues of excrements from the water toilet bowls, and the disinfectionof their seats, without never coming into contact with them.

Within the scope of the above purpose, a particular purpose of thepresent finding is of providing a clean/disinfecting apparatus which, byremotely acting with the water jet or the steam jet, remains as cleanand pure as it was before being used and which, in these conditions, maybe safely stored.

Another purpose of the present finding is of providing acleaning/disinfecting apparatus which is so constructed as to renderparticularly simple and easy the cleaning and disinfection operationsthroughout the bathrooms and toilets, thus contributing to meet thedesired hygienic requirements.

Not least purpose of the instant finding is of providing a cleaning anddisinfecting apparatus which is particularly versatile, has smalloverall dimensions and is of a competitive cost.

The above purpose, as well as the other briefly mentioned purposes andstill other purposes which will be clearer from the following, areachieved by a cleaning/disinfesting apparatus aiming in particular atkeeping the bathroom services, toilets and their relevant fittings inhygienic conditions, according to the present finding, which ischaracterized in that it comprises a portable apparatus suitable forbeing hand traversed by the user, provided with a tank suitable forbeing filled with water, and containing the suitable devices forgenerating, on command by the user, water jets and steam jet,respectively, and additionally provided with a power supply pot orsupport means equipped with an electrical tap, battery charger, timerand connectors, suitable for supplying the electrical power and heataccumulators the apparatus is equipped with.

Thanks to its electrical power and heat accumulators, the apparatus iscapable of operating as a stand-alone water jet and steam jet generatingunit, disconnected from both the power supply pot or support means andany electrical power supply cables from main taps.

Further characteristics and advantages will be clearer from thefollowing disclosure of a preferred, not exclusive, embodiment of acleaning/disinfecting apparatus in particular for water closet bowls andseats, illustrated, for indicative and not limitative purposes, with theaid of the accompanying drawings, in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a sectional view made along the line III--III of FIG. 4, ofthe "cleaning/disinfecting" apparatus separated from the power supplypot or support means, according to the present finding.

FIG. 2 shows a sectional view made along the line II--II of FIG. 4, ofthe power supply pot or support means, according to the present finding.

FIG. 3 shows a sectional view made along the lines III--III and II--II,respectively, of FIG. 4, of the "cleaning/disinfecting" apparatus storedinside its power supply pot or support means.

FIG. 4 shows: in A, a perspective view of the power supply pot orsupport means, in B, the partial projection of the"cleaning/disinfecting" apparatus in C, the removable connector forelectrical power supply, and in D, in a perspective cut-away show, thedetail of the safety pawl.

FIG. 5 shows the "cleaning/disinfecting" apparatus according to thepresent finding, connected with the mains by means of a power supplycable, and a cutaway plan view of the heat accumulator unit.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the above Figures, the "cleaning/disinfecting" apparatusfor water closet bowls and seats, according to the present finding,comprises a hollow body (1) having a preferably, but not mandatory,cylindrical shape, provided with a handle (3) inside which theelectrical power accumulators (5), the motor driven pump (11) switchgear(7) and the steam pump (9) are housed.

Inside the upper portion of the body (1) the water tank (2) is housed;said water tank (2) is equipped with a filling cap (6), the check valve(4) and the gasket (10) enabling the pump suction tubes (12 and 13) topass through under tightly sealed conditions.

In the central portion of said body (1) the motor driven pump (11), thedelivery ducts (18, 21) of both pumps with their relevant check valves(17, 20) and the electrical wiring (14) are installed and inside theexternal picket (27) the outwards protruding power supply pins (15, 16)can be seen.

Inside the bottom portion of the body (1), the heat accumulator (23)closed inside its thermal shield (22), the steam duct (24) and the waterduct (18), leading to the external diffusion nozzles (25, 19,respectively), are installed.

Said apparatus additionally comprises a power supply pot or supportmeans, displayed in FIG. 2, which preferably, but not mandatorily, isgiven the shape of a double-chamber pot, in which the central chamber(39) is open at its top side in order to enable the"cleaning/disinfecting" apparatus to be slid and positioned into it indagger-into-sheath fashion, as shown in FIG. 3, and the peripheralchamber (40), totally closed by an outer peripheral wall (28), housesthe electrical wiring (37), the battery charger (38), the timer (36),the contact blades (29, 30) and the safety pawl (33).

The power supply pins (32) and the control knob (35) of the timer (36)protrude outwards of the wall (28) with the supply pins (32) beinglocated in a housing recess (42).

When the apparatus is used in practice, with the power supply pot orsupport means being connected with the mains, and the apparatus alreadyfilled with water having been slid into it--as shown in FIG. 3--theapparatus power supply pins (15, 16) come into contact with the powersupply blades (29, 30) and, thanks to the carefully calculated freegaps, the lock lever of the safety pawl (33) is pushed by the body ofthe apparatus until the safety pawl (33) gets disengaged from theconstraint constituted by the cams (34) of the timer control knob (35)against the bias of a spring (41).

In this condition, the "prearranged" electrical system enables theelectrical current supplied by the mains to be directly fed to thetransformer/battery charger (38) and its voltage is reduced by this unitto a low voltage value, and then the by now low-voltage power is fed tothe contact blades (29, 30) and then through the power supply pins (15,16) and so forth, to the electrical energy accumulators of theapparatus, with their charge being thus secured and then, stilldirectly, to the poles of the "open" electrical circuit of the timer(36), thus leaving idling and current-free the blades (29, 30) which areinto contact with the pins (15, 16) designed to supply electrical powerto a heater (26, FIG. 5) associated with an evaporation chamber (44) ofthe heat accumulator (23).

The above disclosed situation is the classic stand-by state in which theuser will find the "cleaning/disinfecting" apparatus for water closetbowls and seats installed in bathrooms and toilets, at toilet use time.

In order to suitably use said apparatus as a clean/washing unit, theuser will take it out of the pot or support means and will actuate theswitchgear (7) which controls the motor-driven pump (11), which willsuck water from the water tank (12), in order to deliver it, downstreamfrom the check valve (17), through the water duct (18), to the waterdiffusion nozzles (19) which will spread water into the outerenvironment.

As the apparatus can be easily hand traversed by the user, it willenable the user thereof to direct the jets according to as desired bythe user.

When, on the contrary, still by starting from the above disclosedstand-by condition, should the user wish to use the apparatus fordisinfecting purposes, he will first act on timer knob (35), which nolonger being under the constraint by the pawl (34), can now be freelyrotated, thus enabling the electrical circuit of this component to beclosed and electrical current to flow from the pins (15, 16) intocontact with the blades (29, 30), by now active, to the heat accumulator(22), for that short time period which is necessary for the apparatus togenerate steam. A sound or light signal will indicate when the apparatusis ready to perform the requested function.

Once more, after removing the apparatus from its support means, it willbe enough that the user actuates the pushbutton (8) which controls thesteam pump (9), in order that water sucked from water tank (12) isdelivered, beyond the check valve (20) inside the delivery duct (21),into the evaporation chamber of the heat accumulator (22), which saidwater will leave, by now, as steam.

The steam jet sent to the external diffusion nozzle (25) can be suitablydirected by traversing the apparatus.

An important feature of the present finding is its functional operatingduration in standalone mode, in which it is disengaged from its powersupply pot or support means, as well as from any mains connectioncables, because, by virtue of the electrical power accumulators which itcontains, the cleaning/disinfecting apparatus is practically alwayscapable of operating as a cleaning/washing device, with its water jets.

This is so, because the charging times, i.e., the "stand-by positioninside the power supply pot or support means" times, are extremelylonger than the discharge times, i.e., the "motor-driven pump actuation"times.

However, thanks to the mass of its heat accumulator, and, above all, tothe thermal shield which reduces heat dispersions, despite the extremelyshort time period during which electrical power is supplied asprogrammed by the timer, the apparatus is capable of generatinghigh-temperature steam in a more than enough amount in order todisinfect the water closet bowl and seat, before their use.

Another important feature of the present finding is that both in thepower supply pot or support means, and in the "cleaning/disinfectingapparatus", pockets designed to house the power supply pins have beenprovided with a perfectly identical shape; with also the special "pitch"of the installed pins being the same.

In that way, connecting the apparatus with the mains by means of a powersupply cable is made possible by inserting the relevant connector intoits compatible pocket, as displayed in FIG. 5.

Without endangering the electrical safety, with the connector beingfirmly retained thanks to its particular dove-tail shaped cross-sectionbeing complementary to the shape of the cross-section of the connectingpickets, the apparatus will thusly reach a very long standaloneoperating duration and, thanks to its feature of being portable andeasily hand traversed by the user, it can be used as a cleaning/washingunit, as well as a disinfesting unit, over the whole span of thebathroom.

Another important feature of the present finding is constituted by asafety system applied to the power supply pot or support means in orderto prevent any accidental, or unconsciously voluntary, contacts with thelive parts of the electrical system.

When the power supply pot or support means is connected with the mains,and the apparatus is out of it, the passages provided for the powersupply pins of the apparatus to pass through, remain accessible.

By sliding, more or less accidentally, as said, a foreign metal bodyinto these small holes, one would meet with one pair of live contactblades through which only low-voltage, hence harmless, current flows andwith another, absolutely idling, pair of blades, because the electricalsystem provided inside the power supply pot or support means isconceived in order to directly supply the electrical current from themains to the battery charger/transformer unit and then, from the latter,by now as a low-voltage current, to the first pair of contact blades,still directly to the electrical system of the timer, which, however, bynormally being in "open" condition, stops it without the second pair ofcontact blades being fed.

In this condition, "closing" the circuit, which is carried out byrevolving the timer control knob, is made impossible by the lock imposedby the safety pawl to the cam which makes an integral part of the sameknob.

Still a further important feature of the instant finding consists inthat the apparatus was provided with a plurality of check valves, inorder that

in the case of the check valve installed on the water tank, any waterlosses are drained towards the external environment and, on thecontrary, the pressure equilibration inside its interior is favoured,for better pump efficiency;

in the case of the check valve installed on the water jet outlet duct,the increase in pressure of said outward-directed water jet is favoured;the toroidal chamber which contains the pump impeller is kept saturated;and, furthermore, no involuntary water losses from the diffuser nozzlemay occur when the apparatus is placed in vertical position with itsdiffusion nozzles being directed downwards.

On the contrary, the valve installed in the water delivery duct from thesteam pump to the evaporation chamber of the heat accumulator, performsthe task of overcoming and compensating for the back-pressure exertedinside the duct by steam which is being generated, allowing water toenter and preventing any noxious steam return flow.

To the so conceived finding a large number of modifications and variantsmay be made, all of them being encompassed by the scope of the inventiveconcept.

Furthermore, all details may be replaced by other, technicallyequivalent, elements.

In practice, the materials used, provided that they are compatible withthe planned specific use, as well as the contingent shapes and sizes ofthe instant finding, may be any, according to any desired requirements.

Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been specificallyillustrated and described herein, it is to be understood that minorvariations may be made in the apparatus without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention, as defined the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cleaning/disinfecting apparatus for bathroomsand toilets comprising a body (1) including a tank (2) adapted to befiled with water, a water duct (18) and a steam duct (24) each havingrespective water and steam outlets (25, 19, respectively), said waterduct (18) and said steam duct (24) being in fluid communication withsaid tank (2), pump means (11) for selectively pressurizing the waterand steam of the respective water duct (18) and steam duct (24) prior toexiting the respective water and steam outlets (19, 25) thereof, heatingmeans (23) for transforming water into steam prior to the latter exitingthe steam outlet (25), power accumulator means (5) for accumulatingpower for energizing said pump means (11) and said heating means (23),circuit means (14) including switch means (7) for selectively energizingsaid pump means (11), support means for supporting said body (1) in a"charging" position, said support means including transformer means (38)for converting high voltage input from an electrical source to lowvoltage output, electrical contact means (29, 30) of said support meansfor connecting and disconnecting the low voltage output throughelectrical contact means (15, 16) of said body (1), and said circuitmeans (14) connects said electrical contact means of said body (15, 16)with said heating means (23), and said power accumulator means (5)whereby the low voltage output is utilized for steam generation and pumpenergization.
 2. A cleaning/disinfecting apparatus for bathrooms andtoilets comprising a body (1) including a tank (2) adapted to be filledwith water, a water duct (18) and a steam duct (24) each havingrespective water and steam outlets (25, 19, respectively), said waterduct (18) and said steam duct (24) being in fluid communication withsaid tank (2), pump means (11) for selectively pressurizing the waterand steam of the respective water duct (18) and steam duct (24) prior toexiting the respective water and steam ducts (19, 25) thereof, heatingmeans (23) for transforming water into steam prior to the latter exitingthe steam duct (25), power accumulator means (5) for accumulating powerfor energizing said pump means (11) and said heating means (23), circuitmeans (14) including switch means (7) for selectively energizing saidpump means (11), support means for supporting said body (1) in a"charging" position, power means (38) for charging said poweraccumulator means (5) when said body (1) is in its "charging" position,timer means (36) for preselecting a charge time, and means (33)operative upon the removal of said body (1) from said support means forpreventing operation of said timer means (36) and the charging of saidpower accumulator means (5) through said circuit means (14).
 3. Thecleaning/disinfecting apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said means(33) for preventing operation of said timer means (36) is a pivotallymounted pawl.
 4. The cleaning/disinfecting apparatus as defined in claim2 wherein said means (33) for preventing operation of said timer means(36) is a pivotally mounted pawl, and spring means (41) for biasing saidpawl (36) to its timer means operation preventing position.
 5. Thecleaning/disinfecting apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein saidsupport means includes transformer means (38) for converting highvoltage input from an electrical source to low voltage output,electrical contact means (29, 30) of said support means for connectingand disconnecting said low voltage output with electrical contact means(15, 16) of said body, and said circuit means (14) connects saidlast-mentioned electrical contact means (15, 16) with said heating means(23), and said power accumulator means (5) whereby the low voltageoutput is utilized for steam generation and pump energization.